Frost& Sullivan has released a paper “Strategic Analysis of Waymo’s Future Autonomous Disruptive Capabilities for the Automotive Industry”. According to it Waymo’s autonomous software may cause disruption across the automotive value chain from OEMs to dealerships.

Some points raised by it are:

Waymo could potentially help commercialize its autonomous technology earlier than its competition, disrupt multiple industries ranging from shared mobility to logistics, as well as hold the key to Alphabet’s ecosystem of connected devices, thus enabling the collection of data from vehicles and users to offer customized services.

Waymo-powered, Level 5 autonomous vehicle, featuring complete connectivity, to become available to the public by 2025. It would be based on Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s Chrysler Pacifica, which is currently being used as a test mule.

Potential growth opportunities for Waymo include:

Securing partnerships with third-party developers to build applications for vehicles based on vehicular data;

Licensing its autonomous software and tailoring it to logistics, thereby saving fuel and driver charge costs;

Licensing its in-house manufacturing and distribution of light detection and ranging (LIDARs) and sensors for autonomous cars; and

Extending its software to power autonomous buses for public transport.

Recent partnership with Lyft is a strong indication of Waymo’s interest in entering the shared mobility space.

Regardless of Waymo’s entry, the automotive industry is poised to transform into a highly connected ecosystem. Nevertheless, as Waymo is at the forefront of developing autonomous driving software for cars, the entry of Waymo could offer existing ecosystem participants tough competition.

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